Woman faces five felonies in Jaffrey crash case

A Cheshire County Grand Jury indicted a Rindge woman on five felony-level charges in connection with a fatal crash on Fitzwilliam Road in Jaffrey, in which Daniel Peard of Jaffrey was killed.

Nichole Oates, 34, of Rindge is charged with two counts of negligent homicide, two counts of aggravated DWI and one count of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, according to Cheshire County Superior Court documents on file Monday.

Oates is accused of putting Peard, her boyfriend, in danger of seriously bodily injury, according to court records, by “drifting” the 2012 Ford F-150 Raptor that she was driving on Jan. 5 on Fitzwilliam Road. Oates reportedly drove that night with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, according to the indictments, and, because of her impairment caused the vehicle to crash.

In an affidavit prepared by Jaffrey police, Det. Joseph B. Hileman wrote that Oates told police she was traveling at about 35 to 40 miles per hour at the time of the Jan. 5 crash and that “... Danny had asked her to ‘drift’ (causing the vehicle to slide sideways, typically around corners).” Police asked her if this is what she was doing when she lost control and she said she does not remember because it all happened so fast,” Hileman wrote.

Oates was able to climb out of the vehicle and walk to a nearby house after the accident, police said. Peard was sitting in the front seat of the pickup at the time of the crash, according to Hileman, but police found Peard on the ground outside the vehicle, without a pulse when they arrived at the crash scene.

A preliminary trial in the case has been set for April 2 at the Cheshire County Superior Court.

Last week, a Grand Jury also indicted Jeffrey Rouleau, 42, of New Ipswich on one count of sale of morphine in Keene on Oct. 24, 2012, according to court records. Rouleau reportedly sold less than one ounce of the controlled drug to an individual working for the N.H. Drug Task Force.

Rouleau was also indicted on one count of burglary for entering a home on Roxbury Plaza in Keene on Nov. 17, 2012, without permission to do so, according to the indictment.

Thomas Blood, 42, of Temple was indicted on one count of driving after having been deemed a habitual offender. Blood allegedly drove on Main Street in Dublin in November 2012 after his driving privileges in New Hampshire had been revoked.

According to court records, Blood had previously been convicted of the misdemeanor offence of driving after suspension of license in 2005, DWI, third offence, in 2006 and driving after revocation in 2011.

Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 228 or adandrea@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter at @alyssadandrea.